Emerald Hunters
by VG-All-Star
Summary: To save the world, Sonic tricks Knuckles into giving up the Master Emerald. But when it gets stolen and shattered, Knux gathers a crew to help him search for the missing pieces. Rated for mild violence and minor language. R&R!
1. Prologue

**Authors note: **This is my first story, so try to go a little easy on me with the reviews. If you have any ideas or suggestions, feel free to add them in your reviews. This is a short Prologue, to start my story off. Chapter 1 coming very soon.

**EMERALD HUNTERS**

Prologue

"As far back as I can remember, I've been living here on this dark island. Always guarding the Master Emerald, from anything that can harm it. I don't know why I was given this job, or why it's my fate. I'm destined to be here forever..."

These were true words spoken by Knuckles the Echidna. He has his work cut out for him when it comes to guarding the emerald. In fact he's even searched for the pieces twice already. But now, completely unaware, he'll have to search a third time and it won't be so easy this time around.

Knuckles awoke from his slumber on top of a giant sparkling green emerald. He took a deep breath as he jumped of the emerald and turned to face it.

"It's gonna be one of those days... I can just feel it..."Knuckles moaned as he stared at the beautiful emerald. "Let's hope I'm wrong." Knuckles turned around and walked up to the stairs. The emerald alter was surrounded by old ruins, and surrounding the ruins was an island that stayed afloat in the sky. This was the place Knuckles called home. This was Angel Island. Knuckles took a seat at the top of the stairs.

"I'm gonna protect you, Master Emerald!"

**And that's it.** **I know it's extremely short but stay tuned for longer chapters later in the story. Chapter 1 up soon!**


	2. Tricked Again

**Authors Note**: I'm back with the first Chapter. I tried to make it a lot longer than Prologue.

Disclaimer: I do not own any Sonic character of this story. Plain and simple.

-Emerald Hunters-

Chapter 1: Tricked Again

Knuckles was watching the sky closely. The Master Emerald was his sworn duty, but sometimes it had just bored him to death. Passing clouds filled Knuckles' view. The sun was hidden in all of the passing clouds, and the wind blew softly. It was some time until Knuckles got back on his feet and walked towards the Master Emerald. "I may be a little bored watching you, though... Maybe I need a break." He watched the Emerald sparkle and shine as the sun came from behind the clouds. "Then again, maybe I should watch what I say..."

Knuckles sat on top of a rock nearby. He looked up to see the clouds gone and only the sun remained. He kept looking up and soon enough, a fast plane flew past his eyes. "What the! No planes ever fly high up here, unless... Oh no..." Knuckles groaned as he realized who the pilot of the aircraft was. A blue plane made a U turn in the distance and headed towards the island.

"What's he doing here?" Knuckles asked himself. The plane landed in front of the alter. Knuckles leaped off the rock and readied himself for anything, just in case he was wrong. The cockpit opened up and two familiar faces could be seen, getting themselves out of the plane.

"Hey Knux! How's it goin'?"

"Sonic, what are you doing here?" Knuckles asked him as Sonic walked towards him. In the back of Sonic, a small fox could be seen getting out of the plane. "I was in the neighborhood, so I came to visit. It's been a while Knuckles." Sonic answered. "I see you also bought your little sidekick." Knuckles said, nodding towards Tails. "Yeah, he tagged along." Sonic said. Knuckles knew that if Sonic was here, the situation on earth was in peril.

"So, what do you want? I'm sure you just didn't come to visit me." "Yeah, you see Knux..." Tails began. "...Dr. Eggman is plotting something and we need to find out what to prepare ourselves for the onslaught of his plan."

"Yeah? So?" Knuckles retaliated. "So... We need to build a stealth chip in the Tornado that will make the plane invisible. You know, like a cloaking device." Tails explained. Knuckles looked back and forth between the two. He then asked, "So, what does that have to do with me?"

"Well, you see Knuckles, I can build the chip, but I need lot's of energy to do so." Tails said. Knuckles looked at Tails, knowing something bad was about to be said. "You see Knux, what we need is..." Sonic interrupted. " What we need is the Master Emerald!"

Knuckles jaw dropped. He knew they were gonna say something bad, but not that bad. "You need my what!" Knuckles yelled. " C'mon Knux! The fate of the Earth is at stake." Sonic exclaimed. "NO! Your not getting my Master Emerald. You can forget your silly idea." "Knux..." Tails murmured under his breath. Sonic tapped Tails shoulder. They whispered as Knuckles held the Emerald, looking at them in suspicion.

"Okay, Tails. Knuckles isn't gonna let us get the Emerald that easily, so we have no choice but to trick him." Sonic whispered. "But Sonic..." Tails whispered back. "No 'buts' Tails. We gotta do it." "Your taking advantage of him! You know how he's always easily tricked..." " I know, isn't it great?" Sonic whispered with a slight grin on his face. Tails could only look and nod as there was no other way to get the Emerald. "Okay Sonic, it's worth a shot."

"Huh?" Knuckles said confused as Sonic walked up towards him. "Well Knuckles, obviously we can't get the Emerald from you, so we'll have to use a Chaos Emerald, but oh! We've already tried that, right Tails?" Sonic bumped him with his elbow. "OH! Yeah! Right." Tails quickly said. "It...uh...didn't work. Yeah, that's it."

"We just have no choice but to surrender to Eggman..." Sonic said, sounding incredibly sad. "What! Surrender to Eggman? The Sonic I know would never surrender to Eggman! Are you guys trying to trick me?" Sonic looked at Knuckles, acting shocked. "gasp Why! No way Knuckles, we're...uh...just letting ya know if Eggman attacks he'll come after the Master Emerald first, right Tails?" "Right..." Tails agreed. "Yeah! That and he'll use it for his devious intentions!" "Eggman? He's after the Master Emerald!" Knuckles asked. Sonic and Tails both nodded.

"NO! I will not let him take it. You win Sonic..." Sonic and Tails murmured under their breath,

"Yes!" "Alrighty then Knux, you take the Emerald out of the alter with us, so we can use it for our project." Tails explained. Knuckles glanced at Tails angrily. "And to protect it from Eggman... heh, heh..." Tails quickly added. Knuckles took a look at the Emerald. Thoughts were running through his head.

"Get the Tornado ready Tails," Sonic ordered. "We're going to your workshop!"

Knuckles ripped the Emerald out of it's place and hauled it off towards the Tornado. When the Emerald was settled, the three quickly hopped in and took off. In the air, Knuckles looked back at the floating island, only to find nothing. "Huh! Where's Angel Island!" Knuckles exclaimed. "Without the Emeralds power, the island will fall in the ocean next to the edge of Mystic Ruins. You know that, right?" Tails explained to Knuckles.

"Oh, yeah... I kinda forgot, it's been so long actually... y'know, since the Master Emerald was off of the island." Knuckles said. "I really hope I'm not journeying too long..." "Who said you were coming with us!" Sonic exclaimed. "Huh? Then why am I on your plane you idiot!" Knuckles yelled. "Because of this... TAILS! NOW!"

Tails did a quick barrel roll. Sonic hanged onto the wing, however Knuckles fell like a rock.

"Sorry Knuckles!" Tails yelled down to him. Knuckles looked up into the sky as he was falling. "I knew you guys were tricking me!" He yelled back. When Sonic and Tails saw that he got closer and closer to the ground below, Sonic yelled out towards him. "HEY KNUX! IF YOU KNEW WHAT WE WERE GOING TO DO WITH THE EMERALD, YOU WOULDN'T LET US KEEP IT!" Sonic explained back towards him. Shouting so loud that he was sure Knuckles heard him.

As Knuckles saw the plane fly away to the horizon, Knuckles hit the ground hard. He groaned in pain and rubbed his back to try and shake the pain off, but to no avail. "Gah! Those idiots! They had better keep my Emerald safe!" Knuckles yelled. Knuckles landed in the most rural part of the Mystic Ruins. Knuckles tried walking off the pain until he reached a solo house hidden in the trees. "Hopefully they have something comfortable... ouch..." Knuckles groaned in pain as he reached the lawn of the house. In the lawn was bees flying from flower to flower, gathering nectar, but there was one particular bee the didn't gather anything. Instead, a familiar face to Knuckles was found.

"Charmy? That you Charmy?" Knuckles asked. Charmy looked up at Knuckles. "Hey Knuckles!" He joyfully shouted. "What are you doing here?" "Cream invited me over to sniff her flowers. If I can't have candy, I come to sniff her flowers instead because of their sweet, sweet scent." "So Cream lives here?" Knuckles thought for a moment, and then shrieked in pain as he rubbed his back more. "You okay Knux?" Charmy asked.

"I've got a back problem, had a huge fall, don't worry about me. Anyways is Cream's mother home." Knuckles asked the bee. "I don't know about her mother, but I know for a fact Cream's inside..." "Thanks..." Knuckles said as he started to depart inside. "Y'know Knuckles, sweets make the world go round." Charmy explained. "Yeah... Whatever..." Knuckles calmly said as he opened the front door.

"Cream?" Knuckles yelled. "Cream, you in here?" "Yes?" Came a sweet innocent voice that echoed from the Kitchen to the Living room. "Who's there?" "It's me, Knuckles." Cream popped her head inside the Living Room. "Knuckles!" Cream screamed joyfully. She quickly ran in the room.

"Shouldn't you be up guarding your Emerald?" Cream asked. "Something... happened." Knuckles answered rather angrily. "Does your mom mind company?" "Not at all! You're welcome here anytime." Cream said with a wide smile on his face. "Good, 'cuase me back is killing me. I had a long fall and I need someplace to rest. Can I sleep on your sofa?" Knuckles asked as he nodded towards the sofa. "Sure." Cream answered.

"Thanks." Knuckles said, relieved. As he started to doze off, he said a few quiet words so Cream wouldn't hear. "Don't worry Master Emerald, I'm comin' for ya!"

Knuckles then drifted off in a deep sleep.

**And that's the end of Chapter 1. Longer, huh? Chapter 2 up next. It's a little boring now I'm sure, but the Story will catch on later on. Stay tuned for more.**


	3. Gerald Returns

Authors Note: I'm back with Chapter 2. This chapter is going to be even longer than the 1st, so get ready for intense reading. Also, more and more characters start to appear, including old faces.

Disclaimer: I do not own any Sonic... and stuff.

-Emerald Hunters-

Chapter 2: Gerald Returns

In a city that was filled with a population of robots, Dr. Eggman sat in the largest tower of the city of Eggtropolis. He sat, thinking of his next plan to rid Sonic. "Hmm...AHA!...No...YEAH...Nah, I already tried that..." Eggman sat talking to himself, as his two robot servants walked inside.

"Doctor, we have a..."

"YOU IDIOT!" Eggman interrupted. "Didn't I tell you that approaching me while I'm thinking is strictly prohibited!

"Well sorry..." Scratch said sarcastically.

"Yeah, Scratch!" Grounder started, "Never interrupt the doctor while he's in his thinking mood."

"Oh, Shut Up!" Scratch retaliated at Grounder.

Eggman sighed.

"What is your business here, you morons?"

"We've have a visitor your excellence." Grounder stated.

"Visitor? Here? Bring him in." Eggman ordered.

"That's okay." An anonymous voice said. "I've already brought myself in."

"Huh?"

A confused Eggman looked on as a shadowy figure lurked in the entrance of the room.

"He claims to know you sir." Scratch added as Eggman got up from his chair.

"Who are you?" Eggman asked.

"You don't recognize me?" The figure said. "It's me..."

"It...it can't be!..." Eggman gasped.

---------------

"Hand me the screwdriver Sonic." Tails ordered, as he took apart the Tornado in his workshop. Sonic handed Tails the screwdriver.

"I still can't believe we tricked Knuckles, Sonic... You realize he's going to kill us, right?"

"Tails, are you still worried about that Knucklehead? He's not going to catch us anytime soon. He doesn't know about this new workshop built here in Eastopolis." Sonic explained.

"Yeah your right. Why am I worried about silly ol' Knuckles, anyway? He's got no clue about my new workshop." Tails froze. "But still, I feel kinda bad about tricking him..."

"You need to learn to let that stuff go, Tails."

Tails just shook his head as he walked over to his desk to pick up a small chip.

"This is it, Sonic... The Stealth Chip is ready for the Master Emeralds power. Let's just hope the Master Emerald doesn't crack under pressure..." Tails said, worried.

"Okay Tails, what do I do?" Sonic asked.

"Here." Tails gave Sonic the chip. "Connect the chip to that wire over there, then connect the wire to the Master Emerald." Tails explained. Sonic did as instructed and when everything was in place Sonic signaled for Tails to push the switch. "Here goes nothing..."

As Tails pushed the switch, energy from the Master Emerald started to transport towards the Chip. The whole room glowed green as the Emerald gave the power to the Stealth Chip. Tails stuck around the switch to make sure if something happened, he'd shut it off right away. Sonic stayed close to the Master Emerald to survey the situation.

"So far so good, buddy." Sonic said. Tails nodded and left the switch to monitor his computer, the computer read 55.

"We're past the halfway mark." Tails answered back at Sonic. As soon as Tails said that, the Master Emerald started to form cracks.

"Uh oh!" Sonic yelled.

"What is it?" Tails asked.

"I think I spoke too soon... The Master Emeralds starting to crack!" Sonic answered back at Tails, surveying the cracks.

"The Master Emerald can't go on anymore Sonic! Let's shut it off!"

"No! Keep it going, the Master Emerald is stronger than that!"

Sonic stayed around the Emerald circling it. He noticed more and more cracks started to form.

"_C'mon baby... Just a little more..."_ Sonic thought.

Tails glanced over to the monitor. "86!" Tails yelled out.

Sonic started to sweat, as the Master Emerald started to form cracks everywhere. He looked towards the chip, only to see it struggling, just as the Master Emerald was.

"_C'mon..." _Sonic urged on.

The Master Emerald turned from bright green to dark red as the Energy started to drain from it.

"95!" Tails yelled.

Sonic then started to make a break for a crack that formed at the top of the Emerald. He put his hands over it to suppress the cracks, Sonic took one final look at the monitor and yelled,

"TAILS! 1OO! SHUT IT OFF!"

Tails quickly shut the machine off and rushed towards the Emerald.

"Is it okay?" Tails asked.

Sonic and Tails looked on as they saw the Master Emerald change it's color and fill it's cracks. When it's recovery was done, it looked liked the same Master Emerald before the project. Sonic and Tails took deep sighs.

"What a relief... If that Emerald broke, Knux would really kill us..." Tails explained.

"Hey! What about the chip?" Sonic asked Tails.

Tails quickly glanced over to the chip. He walked towards it and said, "It's fine. Mission accomplished Sonic." Tails said. "Now quickly, let put the chip in the Tornado, find Knuckles and give him back the Master Emerald. What do ya say?" Tails asked.

"I say we grab some grub before we do anything else." Sonic retaliated.

"HUH?" Tails said.

"That intense moment made me hungry. C'mon, let's get some chili dogs, on me." Sonic said, smiling.

"Sonic, we gotta give Knuckles back the Master Emerald, and what about Eggman? You haven't forgot the purpose of this, have you?" Tails asked.

"'Course not buddy, but the Master Emerald isn't going anywhere anytime soon, and Eggman shouldn't attack for quite a while, so we're good to go." Sonic explained.

Tails took a look back at the Master Emerald. "Okay Sonic... But as soon as we come back we're taking the Master Emerald back, got it?"

"If it makes you feel any better, okay. Sheesh..." Sonic headed towards the door. "C'mon. There's an cool place I know... I'll meet ya there!" Sonic said as he rocketed out the door.

"Yeah, you'll meet me there...But chances are, you'll eat a million chili dogs before I get there..." Tails retorted.

Tails headed out the door and made sure to lock it behind him. Inside the dark workshop, the only thing that lit up was the Master Emerald.

---------------

"But...but you're supposed to be dead..." Eggman stated, backing away at the figure.

"No. I was merely unconscious. I'm awake now though, so I can help my grandsonnow."

The figure was Doctor Gerald Robotnik, Eggman's grandfather.

"You're here to, help me?" Eggman asked, still shocked at the appearance of his grandfather

"Yes. I'm here to help you with any problem you may have." Gerald answered.

"In that case..." Eggman started. He had a smile so wide, it went to one side of his face to the other side.

"...BAH! I'm getting ahead of myself. Scratch, Grounder, make some boiled eggs for me and our guest."

Scratch and Grounder just looked at the evil scientist.

"Um, sir... We don't have a kitchen..." Grounder stated.

"That's an order!" Eggman added.

"Yes sir!" The two robots said as they left the room.

Eggman looked back over towards Gerald. Gerald looked around, surveying the place.

"You've got a heck of a base here. I'm proud of you, Ivo."

"Please, grandfather, call me Eggman. Anyways, how are you still alive? How did you find me? Where are you coming from? Who..."

"Eggman, relax..." Gerald said. "We've got plenty of time."

Eggman sat down in his chair. He started thinking again, but this time, not about Sonic, but Gerald.

"_This is kind of weird..." _Eggman thought._"Why would he come here? I may have to keep a close eye on him..." _

Eggman then turned and sat, waiting for Scratch and Grounder toso he could get some answers.

**Chapter 2 is done! Chapter 3 up soon!**


	4. A Nightmare

**Author's Note:** Back with Chapter 3.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic, but I write stories 'bout him.

**-Emerald Hunters-**

Chapter 3: A Nightmare

_Knuckles found himself in a room full of robots. He was surrounded by an army and the only help he had was Rouge and Storm._ _He clenched his fists and readied for anything. _

"_I'll take this side, you two take the other!" Knuckles ordered._

"_Okay Knuckles, but be careful will ya'? I don't want you falling on your face again." Rouge teased._

"_Shut up!" Knuckles said._

"_Let's kick some butt!" Storm exclaimed._

_Rouge and Storm sprang into action. Storm knocked two robots into piles of other groups while rouge threw a grenade at another group. Knuckles on the other hand, was knocking robots apart he saw a door up ahead and started mashing through robots when suddenly on kicked him up into the air._

"_Oof!" Knuckles groaned as he landed._

"_Okay. You wanna do this the hard way eh?"_

_Knuckles charged at the robots a second time and destroyed a ton of them. He started ripping through endless amounts of zombies until he came to a sudden stop. He saw a huge robot._

"_I guess it's one of Eggman's new so-called 'brilliant' inventions..." Knuckles said, hinting a bit of sarcasm in his voice._

"_...just one less to worry about." _

_Just as soon as Knuckles charged for the robot, he was teleported out of the room._

_Rouge looked behind only to see an army of robots, but no Knuckles._

"_Knux? Where's Knuckles?" Rouge asked Storm._

_Storm just shrugged his shoulders and said, " I don't know, but we should hurry and take care of the rest of this army without him."_

_Rouge sighed as she started kicking through robots again._

_Knuckles found himself in the cockpit of the ship they were in. He glanced over to find Sonic and Amy tied to a pole with sheets over their mouths so they couldn't talk, Tails knocked out in a corner and Shadow and Blaze inside a sound-proof container._

"_What the hell? What happened here?" Knuckles asked, as he made his way towards Sonic and Amy. He took the cover away from their mouths and started uniting them._

"_We don't know. All we know is we was taking care of the real battery replacing it with protype battery Tails created and the next thing we know, we're here!" Amy explained._

"_It all happened so fast...Huh? Hey! Watch it! Behind you Knuckles!" Sonic yelled._

_Knuckles quickly turned behind him to see a shadowy figure swinging a pole at him. He quickly held is hands up and grabbed the metal pole before it hit him. They were fighting for control of the pole until the figure kicked Knuckles into Sonic and Amy._

"_DIE!" The figure yelled. Knuckles dove out of the way as the pole missed it's target and instead hit the rope Sonic and Amy were tied in._ _The rope broke and Sonic and Amy ran towards Knuckles against the wall._

"_Amy! Get out of here and find the others! Get help!" Sonic ordered._

"_Right!" Amy returned._

_As Amy flew out the lab doors, Sonic and Knuckles were focused on the incoming figure. The metal pole transformed into a gun and it started to shoot towards them. _

"_Look out!" Knuckles yelled as they both dove out of the way._

_Knuckles then started charging at him, moving so fast the bullets coming from the gun missed him entirely. He then kicked the figure in the stomach and did an uppercut. The figure flew into the wall and pressed a switch beside him._

_Knuckles then came up towards him and said, "It's over."_

"_Not until the fat lady sings!" The figure said. Knuckles looked over and saw the Master Emerald and a 1 ton weight hanging above it. _

"_WHAT?"_ _Knuckles shouted._

_Sonic looked over to see a electric laser being pointed down at Shadow and Blaze. _

"_Heh, heh..." The figure chuckled. "You've got a choice Knuckles, your friends, or your Master Emerald."_

_Knuckles stared at the figure in horror as he started to attack him when the figure immediately said, "If you kill me, they all go."_

"_Knuckles..." Sonic said urging him to save Shadow and Blaze._

"_No...It took forever to gather the missing pieces_!" _Knuckles said._

"_Knuckles! We can gather them again!" _

"_NO!" Knuckles yelled. He was sweating bullets._

"_Time's ticking..." The figure said, grinning._

_Knuckles couldn't decide what to do until the figure said, "Too late, they all go."_

"_NO!" Sonic and Knuckles yelled._

_The figure pushed the switch and..._

_---------------_

Knuckles awoke sweating. He was breathing heavily and his heart was thumping.

"Just...just a dream..." Knuckles said, finding the breath to speak. He sniffed heavily. The smell of freshly baked cookies was in the air.

Knuckles got up and headed towards the kitchen. He saw Charmy sitting at a table, drooling, Cream's mother, Vanilla, getting out cookies from the oven and Cream, helping her mother with the cookies.

"Hello, guys." Knuckles greeted.

"Oh, hello Knuckles." Vanilla answered.

"I'm glad you're awake Knuckles!" Cream added.

"Hey Knux." Charmy greeted.

"What's uh... goin' on?" Knuckles asked, still groggy and sweating from his dream.

"You okay Knuckles? You don't look yourself..." Charmy stated.

"How's your back?" Vanilla asked, pulling a seat up for Knuckles.

"Better..." Knuckles said, taking a seat.

"Um, you wanna cookie?" Cream asked, sitting next to him.

"Why not?" Knuckles agreed.

Vanilla placed the cookies on the table and Charmy started stuffing his mouth full of them. Knuckles started to take a bite when he realized why he had the dream. He dropped the cookie and got up from the table.

"Sorry miss. I gotta go... Something urgent has come to my attention..." Knuckles said.

"Okay. Sorry you can't stay..." Vanilla stated.

"Can I come with you Knux?" Charmy asked as Knuckles was almost out the door. He turned towards Charmy.

"Don't you have a team to get back to?" Knuckles asked.

"Espio and Vector asked Mighty to fill my position for a while. You can kinda say I'm on break..." Charmy explained.

Knuckles then turned back out the door and said, "As long as you don't get in my way..."

"Yahoo! I'll be right out! But first..." Charmy said, grinning. "...cookies please!"

Charmy had yanked out a bag and Vanilla sighed as she put the remaining cookies inside of Charmy's bag.

"Thanks, miss!" Charmy said, leaving the house.

"Bye mister Knuckles! Bye Charmy!" Cream yelled after them.

Knuckles and Charmy could be seen leaving the woods and heading for Tails workshop.

"So, where we going?" Charmy asked.

"To Tails workshop. I've gotta score to settle." Knuckles scoffed.

"Tails doesn't work there anymore Knux..." Charmy said.

"WHAT?" Knuckles yelled.

"He has a new workshop somewhere in Eastopolis city. That's the place he usually goes." Charmy added.

"Your kiddin'!" Knuckles said. "Eastopolis isn't anywhere near the Mystic ruins!" Knuckles yelled.

"That's were he is. Trust me."

Knuckles just stopped and thought. He started shacking his head and started walking again.

"What did they do to ya?" Charmy asked, scarfing down a cookie from the bag.

"I thought you'd never ask..." Knuckles said. "They stole the Master Emerald from me!"

"Wow! They did? For no reason?" Charmy exclaimed.

"No, it was for a reason, but they tricked me! Now, they've crossed the line. Sonic is gonna wish he never stole it!" Knuckles stated.

Charmy sighed and they kept walking until they came across a sign that said,

'Train to Station Square up north, Mystic ruins, south.'

"The quickest way I know to get to Eastopolis is to go to Station Square and then head East. Let's go!" Knuckles said.

They hopped on the train and the train took of towards Station Square.

**Done. It's a little short of which I thought I'd be, but still I did okay. Chapter 4 up soon.**


	5. Flashbacks

**Author's** **Note:** I'm back with Chapter 4. This is one of the longest chapters of the story, so get ready for intense reading. R&R, and enjoy the chapter:)

**-Emerald Hunters-**

Chapter 4: Flashbacks

Eggman and Gerald were sitting at a table in the center of a large room with many unknown inventions. They were waiting patiently for Scratch and Grounder to return with the boiled eggs Eggman ordered them to fetch.

"They take way to long! I swear, my robots these days are nothing but trouble..." Eggman stated.

"Then why did create them?" Gerald returned.

"I don't know, I guess because, believe it or not, I was lonely. An devious scientist such as myself can only go so far without company." Eggman explained.

"Right." Gerald answered, looking around to the many machines surrounding them.

"These your robots, Ivo?"

"Yes, but they all fail me! That menacing hedgehog eliminates them all the time, however I rebuilt them, but I doubt they would make any difference at all compared to that meddling furball!"

Gerald nodded towards his grandson.

"I see... And is that hedgehog Shadow, by any chance?" Gerald asked.

"No. This ones different. He even actually took down Shadow a couple of times. The hedgehog I'm talking about is Sonic." Eggman explained.

Eggman pushed a button under the table which lowered a huge wide screen television. He turned around and pressed the button on the remote which turned it on. On the screen showed Sonic and Eggman facing off.

"I video taped all the encounters me and Sonic had with each other, even the first time we met..."

---------------

-On the television-

---------------

_-Sonic the Hedgehog-_

_Sonic and Eggman were face to face in a giant techno-made battleship, called the Death Egg. Eggman was inside a giant robot. He stared down at Sonic as Sonic started speaking._

"_Well, Eggy... I guess this is one of ya knew robots huh? Too bad it's gonna have to go bye-bye like the others." Sonic said._

"_Shut up you! I'll have you know that this robot is powered by something called a Chaos Emerald, a super-powered gem of unimaginable strength. You have met your demise! Mua ha ha ha ha ha! HUH?"_

_Eggman looked down to see Sonic digging in his ear while whistling at the same time._

"_HEY! Were you listening to me?" Eggman asked._

"_No. Why would I? All you do is blabber on about how this is stronger than the last and how this can beat me and other annoying stuff. It's always the same in the end though. I beat you, as always." Sonic explained._

"_Grrrr... I don't have to take this from you! Die, hedgehog!"_

_Sonic smirked as he dodged the fist of the robot. The fist slammed into the wall behind Sonic and was stuck there._

"_See? Pointless..." Sonic said. Just then the robot powered up it's other hand and a blue light started to form in it's palm_. _It then aimed in Sonic's direction and fired a beam._

"_Whoa! That's new!" Sonic yelped as he quickly dodged it. _

"_Hold still you pest!" Eggman shouted, controlling the robot from the inside._

"_You can't hit me with nothing Eggy, I'm way too fast!"_

_Eggman growled as he finally got his fist out of the wall. He then turned to face Sonic. Sonic readied himself for an attack, but the robot disappeared into thin air._

"_WHAT THE...?" Sonic looked up and saw the robot speeding down towards him. Sonic tried to avoid it, but it was too sudden. The robot, much bigger than Sonic, crushed the floor and Sonic altogether and they both fell through the ground. _

_Down in the hole, the robot got up and Eggman laughed as he saw Sonic, broken and smashed on the ground. _

"_Ha ha ha! Finally, I beat you! I can't believe I was having so much trouble with this one hedgehog. But I'm sure he now understands that he should've left me alone when I kidnaped a bunch of animals for my experiments!_" _Eggman stated. "That's what you get for playing hero, hedgehog."_

_As the robot turned and started walking away, an injured Sonic started to get up. As Sonic struggled to get up, Eggman turned around and saw this._

"_WHAT? You're kidding! You're still alive after that impact? You should be dead!" Eggman yelled. _

"_You...you...you can't...stop...me...doctor..." Sonic gasped._

"_Why not?" Eggman asked._

_Sonic was on his feet._

"_Because...I must rescue my friends..." Sonic started as he began floating in the air._

_Eggman gawked at the fact that he was floating._

"_...because...I have to defeat you to stop your evil plans..."_

_Eggman glanced over to his chart. _

"_WHAT? His power's increasing? How can this be?"_

"_...because..."_

_Eggman started to back away._

"_...because..."_

_The Emerald inside the robot started to glow._

"_...BECAUSE..."_

_The other six Emeralds in Sonic's possession started to glow. Sonic turned yellow and his eyes turned red._

"_...I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!"_

_---------------_

-Back to Eggman-

-------------

"That was when I first learned his name. He defeated me in his super form using the seven Chaos Emeralds, even though I thought it was only six..." Eggman explained. "...The Death Egg was destroyed and as I fell from the sky, I could only think of one thing..."

Gerald held his chin in excitement.

"...Revenge."

---------------

-Back into the Television-

---------------

_-Sonic the Hedgehog 2- _

_Once again, Eggman and Sonic faced off inside a newly rebuilt Death Egg. Eggman was in yet again, another robot, identical to Eggman himself. _

"_Geez Eggman, I thought you might have learned your lesson last time, but I guess a butt-kicking the second time 'round oughta teach ya." Sonic explained._

"_Shut up! Sonic, you will soon learn that if you mess with me, you'll get hurt!" Eggman said._

"_I see, this is about revenge eh? Well, I guess I should set you straight, Eggman." Sonic said._

"_Stop calling me that you miscreant!" Eggman said as he punched Sonic all the way towards the other wall. _

"_Ouch. Well, at least your robot provides a challenge now. That's some improvement."_

"_Shut up!" _

_Eggman made his robot launch up into the air and send missiles in his direction. Sonic dodged the first but was hit by the second. He was sent flying outside the Death Egg._

"_Whooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaa!" He yelled as he plummeted down from the sky._

_Eggman walked up to the hole and laughed._

"_Mhu ha ha ha! Sonic, you were a powerful foe, but your time has ended."_

_Just then, Sonic approached Eggman on top of a plane._

"_WHAT?" Eggman yelled as Sonic jumped back into the Death Egg._

"_Thanks Tails!" Sonic yelled back._

"_No problem Sonic!" Tails yelled back._

"_WHAT? Tails?" Eggman said confused._

"_Yeah, my sidekick." Sonic said. "Y'know, something you don't have."_

_Eggman gulped as Sonic pulled out the seven Chaos Emeralds he had._

"_Uh-oh! Not again!" Eggman said, bracing himself for the worst as Sonic and the Chaos Emeralds started to glow a bright white._

"_Now it's time to get serious!" Sonic stated as he transformed into the almighty Super Sonic._

_Super Sonic launched towards Eggman and flew straight into the robot. As Super Sonic came out from the other side of the robot unharmed, a huge hole appeared in the robot. Electricity formed inside the robot and Eggman was unconscious. The robot then glowed red and blew up. Super Sonic, who was forced back due to the shockwaves of the blast, flew out the hole in the Death Egg and hovered in the air as he watched the Death Egg blow up._

"_It's over, but something tells me I haven't seen the last of him..." Sonic thought._

"_SONIC! YOU DID IT!" Tails shouted from behind, controlling the Tornado._

"_Yeah! Thanks for helping me buddy!" Sonic said, smiling._

_Super Sonic and Tails then flew off into the horizon, as pieces of the Death Egg fell below in the water._

_---------------_

-Back to Eggman-

-------------

"Yes, yes..." Eggman started. "...The thought of having two meddling pests to deal with was troubling enough, but I had a plan cooking in my head that could make those two enemies instead of heroes to others, and their was a certain Echidna I met that could prove to be of my use."

"I see..." Gerald answered.

---------------

-Back into the Television-

---------------

_-Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles-_

_Sonic and Tails were staring at what appeared to be death before their very eyes. A super-gigantic robot that was identical to Eggman appeared before them._

"_Um, Sonic. Eggman's had some inventions, but that's the best one I've seen so far..." Tails said._

"_Relax, Tails. This is nothing!" Sonic replied._

_Eggman wasn't anywhere to be seen, although the cockpit he was in was unseeable. Two gigantic hands appeared and Tails was grabbed by the left one as Sonic was grabbed by the right one. The robot then started to squeeze the life out of them. _

"_GAH!" They both screamed._

_Just then, a red blur appeared and destroyed the right hand. Sonic collapsed onto the floor as the blur went and destroyed the left hand. Tails collapsed._

"_Huh?" Sonic said, confused._

_A red Echidna stood before him. The echidna was Knuckles himself._

"_You're helping us now?" Sonic asked._

"_Of course." Knuckles said. "After I found out Eggman tricked me, I told you I would help you, remember?"_

"_Oh, right!" Sonic said. He looked over and saw Tails lying on the ground._

_Sonic ran over to him._

"_Tails..." Sonic said, tears starting to form._

"_Relax! He's only unconscious..." Knuckles explained._

"_Right! Let's take care of this creep!" Sonic said. _

_Sonic and Knuckles stared at the robot as the robot's center started to glow blue. _

"_Duh-oh!" Knuckles said._

_A blue energy beam shoot out of the robot. Knuckles dodged it and Sonic quickly picked up Tails and dodged it as well._

"_That trick is so old! Eggman's really gonna have to think up something new." Sonic said._

_Just then, the cockpit came apart from the robot and flew off into space._

"_There's something new..." Knuckles stated._

"_Knux, can I count on you to take care of Tails?" Sonic asked._

"_Yeah. Why?" Knuckles answered._

"_I've got a score to settle with a certain Egg..."_

_Sonic then started to glow white as he jumped into the air and became Hyper Sonic._

"_What the? You're glowing all the colors of the Chaos Emeralds!" Knuckles said._

"_Not only did I absorb the energy from the Chaos Emeralds, I absorbed the energy from the Super Emeralds as well." Sonic explained._

"_Cool!" Knuckles said._

_Sonic then launched into the air, leaving behind sparkles._

_---------------_

-Back to Eggman-

-------------

"What happened next Ivo?" Gerald asked.

"Well, Sonic destroyed me for the third time in a row, and I had three furballs to worry about." Eggman said.

"I also have a million more stories about that hedgehog triumphing over me, I could go on and on..."

"Gee, looks like you have your work cut out for you..." Gerald stated.

"That was the past. But this next one I'm about to tell you wasn't video taped by me, and it took place a year from now. It was the most humiliating defeat of my life..." Eggman began.

---------------

_Outside of a dark cave, Amy, Cream and Cheese waited for Sonic and co. to come out with the Chaos Emeralds in hand, but an hour had passed and they weren't out yet._

"_They're taking way to long in there! Let's go in, already!" Amy said._

"_But Amy, Mr. Sonic said wait out here no matter what. He said it was too dangerous for us..." Cream replied._

"_Cream, my middle name is dangerous!" Amy said._

"_Amy..." Cream said._

"_Chao, chao..." Cheese replied afterwards._

"_Don't worry Cream, nothings gonna happen to ya... Not while I'm around! Let's go in."_

_Amy and Cream entered the cave._

_Inside the cave, Sonic and Knuckles was busy trying to get a Chaos Emerald out from a pile of rocks. The cave was dark and damp, with eerie railroad tracks everywhere inside. A few pumpkins were growing around the cave and mine carts were everywhere. This was a place all too familiar to Knuckles. This was the Aquatic Mine._

"_Just like Eggman, to hide all of these Emeralds inside these mines! Coward!" Sonic exclaimed._

"_Keep your voice down Sonic!" Tails said, helping Rouge look out to see if anyone was coming._

"_Y'know... I'm not in it to help you guys, I'm here for the gems, that's all." Rouge stated._

"_Duh! We knew that!" Knuckles replied._

"_I'll have you know the jewels in these mines are legendary!" Rouge said. "They must be added to my collection."_

"_Well, this Chaos Emerald must be added to our collection so we can stop whatever Eggman's cooking up." Knuckles said._

_Sonic was still searching the rubble for the Chaos Emerald._

"_This Chaos Emerald would've been easy pickings if it wasn't for Eggmans bomb." Sonic explained._

"_Keep searching you guys! This Chaos Emerald will make our sixth one, which means we only got one more to find." Tails said._

"_No doubt the doctor has the last one, right fox boy?" Rouge asked._

"_Yeah! We've gotta find Eggman too!"_

_Sonic then hit something in the rubble._

"_Hmm? I think I got it!" Sonic yelled._

_As Sonic started to pull it up, Knuckles, Tails and Rouge looked on as Sonic pulled up a skeleton head._

"_That was a waste!" Rouge said._

_Sonic then looked at the skeleton head in his hand and then looked at Knuckles._

"_Hey guys, this skeleton is a knuckle-head! Haha! Get it? Because a skeleton's head is hard and Knuckles is a knuckle-head? Work with me, here!" Sonic said._

"_Sonic, NOT FUNNY!" Knuckles yelled._

"_Sonic! Focus!" Tails said._

"_Actually, I found it quite funny." Rouge said giggling._

"_You wanna take this outside?" Knuckles asked._

"_Bring it on!" Rouge replied._

_Tails sighed as Sonic kept searching for the Emerald. Just then, Sonic saw the yellow Emerald in front of him in the hands of Fang the Sniper._

"_What the? FANG?" Sonic said._

"_Heh..." Fang chuckled. "I've finally got a Chaos Emerald under your nose hedgehog! Now, I'll be able to sell this baby for some hard-earned cash."_

_Money signs appeared in Fang's eyes. Sonic sighed._

"_Fang, you idiot. You know I'm gonna snatch it from you one way or another! You just made a huge mistake!" Sonic said._

"_Heh! The worlds greatest thief, Fang the Sniper, will finally win one over you, Sonic!" Fang explained._

_Rouge's ears twitched at the sound of 'world's greatest thief'._

"_I'm sorry, but did you just say you are the 'world's greatest thief'?" Rouge asked._

"_That's right!" Fang answered, as he started flipping the Chaos Emerald up and down in his left hand._

"_Clearly you need to get your head examined, because the only great treasure thief in the world is yours truly!" Rouge said._

"_Okay then! Let's bet! Me vs. you for the Chaos Emerald!" Fang said, as he threw the Emerald to Sonic._

"_Huh?" Sonic said catching the Emerald._

"_Fine!" Rouge said, getting in her battle stance._

_Sonic walked over to Knuckles and Tails._

"_Y'know, I think Rouge is the real treasure thief because no idiot will be dumb enough to throw me the Chaos Emerald." Sonic whispered._

"_I agree." Knuckles said._

"_Well, we've got six, so let's split and find Eggman!" Tails said._

_As Sonic and Tails left out the room, Knuckles stopped and paused. He turned towards Rouge._

"_Hey, Rouge! You better not lose to the guy!" Knuckles said._

"_Shut-up! Don't worry about me!" Rouge said, blushing._

_Knuckles chuckled and left the room._

"_I'm gonna win my Chaos Emerald!" Fang said._

"_What Chaos Emerald?" Rouge stated._

"_Huh?" Fang said as he looked around for the Chaos Emerald._

"_D'oh! I gave it to Sonic, didn't I?" Fang said, turning red. "I've gotta stop doing that!" _

"_It's clear who's the better one now, is it?" Rouge said._

"_Bah! I'll deal with you later!" Fang yelled, leaving the room._

"_Idiot." Rouge murmured._

_Sonic, Tails and Knuckles were running. Tails withdrew his Emerald radar._

"_This radar will allow me to find Eggman, since he no doubt has the last Emerald." Tails explained._

"_Right!" Sonic replied._

"_Hold it!" a voice came from behind._

_The trio turned while still running to see an enraged Fang speeding towards them._

"_Looks like he caught on..." Knuckles said._

"_You tricked me Sonic!" Fang yelled._

"_Actually, you tricked yourself..." Sonic said._

"_Shut up!" Fang yelled back._

"_C'mon guys! That guy is nothing compared to what we are really supposed to do! Let's leave this guy in the dust and find Eggman!" Sonic ordered._

"_Right!" Tails and Knuckles shouted._

_Sonic grabbed Tails and Knuckles and ran off out of sight from Fang. Fang stopped to catch his breath._

"_Damn you, hedgehog!" Fang shouted._

_Sonic, Tails and Knuckles found themselves in a huge room with a giant robot with four legs. Inside the spider cockpit was Eggman, Decoe and Bocoe. _

"_Hmm! I recognize that robot! That's the same one that I had to beat to save Station Square!" Tails explained._

"_So, rebuilding a 'bot that even Tails defeated huh? You must be real desperate Eggman." Knuckles said._

"_Shut-up! As with all my inventions, this one is much better that the previous! Behold, my sticky webs!" Eggman said as he pushed a button to shoot out a sticky substance, but the three animals split up to dodge the attack._

"_You can't hit all of us at the same time!" Sonic said._

"_Doctor, might I suggest something?" Decoe asked._

"_NO!" Eggman yelled._

_Knuckles launched into the air and readied a fist._

"_I got you know!" Knuckles said._

_Eggman then pushed a button to bring up a force-field that deflected Knuckles into a nearby wall. Eggman then launched a web at Knuckles and stuck him against the wall._

"_Knux!" Sonic said._

_Tails ran over and tried to get the sticky web off of him, but he couldn't._

"_Sonic! I can't get Knuckles out of the substance! It's sticky, and now my hands are stuck to it." Tails said, trying to undo the web from his hands._

"_Who does he think he is anyway? Spider-man?" Sonic said, dodging another shot by Eggman._

"_Two down, one to go!" Eggman said, aiming for Sonic._

_Eggman then launched the web again at Sonic, but he dodged it and hid behind the rock. Eggman launched missiles at the rock, followed by more webs. Sonic then jumped from under the rock, dodging the missles, however his right foot was caught by a web. Sonic flew into the wall next to Tails and Knuckles, all but his right foot dangling from the wall upside down._

"_Sonic!" Tails yelled._

"_Tails!" Sonic yelled._

"_Mhu ha ha ha! Say goodbye, hedgehog!" Eggman laughed. Decoe and Bocoe laughed as well._

_Eggman charged his missles up and was about to launch them until a hammer came crashing on Eggman's head. Decoe and Bocoe stared up at a pink hedgehog wielding the hammer, Amy._

"_Nobody hurts Sonic!" She yelled as she rapidly pounded Eggman on the head with the hammer._

_Cream appeared behind Tails._

"_Cheese! Cut!" Cream ordered. _

_Cheese turned the ball hovering over her head into a knife and cut through the webs._

"_Thanks, Cream! Thanks Cheese!" Tails said._

"_You're welcome!" Cream said, smiling._

"_Amy?" Sonic said, noticing Amy smash Eggman up on the cockpit. Amy stopped smashing and noticed Sonic was okay._

"_SONIC!" She yelled._

"_I thought I told you to stay outside?" Sonic asked._

"_Sorry, but you know nothing can keep us apart!" Amy said winking at Sonic._

_Sonic sighed._

"_Hey! Is there a Chaos Emerald up there?" Sonic asked._

_Amy looked around and saw the Chaos Emerald in a shelf inside the cockpit. She grabbed it and triggered the self-destruct sequence._

'_The Self-Destruct System has been activated! All must evacuate immediately!'_

"_Oops..." Amy said._

"_What did you do?" Sonic said._

"_Um... I...don't...know...he he..." Amy stuttered._

"_Amy..." Sonic said._

"_We gotta get out of here!" Tails said._

"_Wait! Do we have everybody?" Sonic asked._

_Tails thought over it for a second. Then he gasped._

"_Rouge!" He yelled._

"_You called?" Came a voice._

_Sonic looked up and saw Rouge hovering down towards them._

"_Thank goodness you're safe!" Sonic said. "This place is about to blow! Amy, give me the Chaos Emerald!" _

_Amy gave Sonic the Chaos Emerald. Rouge picked up the unconscious Knuckles and carried him over to the group._

"_CHAOS CONTROL!" Sonic yelled._

_The green Chaos Emerald glowed brightly as Sonic and company was teleported out safely. Fang walked in the room just after that._

"_Sonic! Bat-girl! Where are you?" Fang yelled._

_Just then the self-destruct program spoke again._

'_Explosion in..._

_10_

_9_

_8_

_7_

_6_

_5_

_4_

_3_

_2_

_1...'_

_Fang froze in shock. The only thing left for him to say was,_

"_OH BUTTER-BISCUITS!"_

_The whole mine exploded._

_---------------_

"I was beaten by a girl! Can you believe it? Every time I come close to beating that hedgehog, his meddling friends always gets in my way! I'm to the point that I will just about give up, but I have one more plan to pull off, and if this doesn't work, nothing will!" Eggman said.

"I see." Gerald said.

"Anyways, enough of me..." Eggman began, pushing the button to raise the wide screen television up into the ceiling. "What about you?"

"Come again?" Gerald asked.

"Why have you come here? I thought you were dead! I have a million questions to ask you, y'know!" Eggman said.

"Which will have to wait. Everything will be answered, Ivo." Gerald explained.

"But still..." Eggman began, but was interrupted by Decoe and Bocoe.

"Doctor, doctor!" Decoe began.

"What now?" Eggman said.

"Scratch and Grounder have returned!" Bocoe said.

"Excellent." Eggman replied.

"But they have no boiled eggs for you, doctor..." Decoe finished.

"WHAT? THOSE USELESS..." Eggman began.

Gerald chuckled.

---------------

"What have we here?" An unknown voice said, looking into the window of Tails' workshop.

A sparkling green Master Emerald appeared in the person's eyes.

"I do believe that's the Master Emerald!"

The figure looked around for a rock.

"It's gotta be one around here somewhere...AHA! Found one!"

The figure threw the rock at the window, causing it to break and the figure hopped inside.

"Looks like another great steal..."

The figure stepped into the light of the Master Emerald.

"...for a master thief such as myself..."

"...Fang the Sniper!"

**Whoa! That was a long one! It wasn't easy to write either! I got that pun "Oh Butter-Biscuits"from Danny Phantom. This chapter was made so it could piece together some puzzles in the future, but the real storyline starts again next Chapter. Stay tuned for chapter 5. :)**


	6. Shattered Emerald

**Author's Note:** I'm here with Chapter 5. Not as long as Chapter 4, in fact, it's actually short. Enjoy. :)

**-Emerald Hunters-**

Chapter 5: Shattered Emerald

It was a dark night as stars and the moon lit up the sky. Fang was inside Tails' workshop, approaching the Master Emerald, cautious of any traps. When no traps were sprung, Fang had a grin stretching from one side of his face to the next.

"Easy pickings! Who would make this so easy for me?" Fang stated in excitement.

Fang then stop and thought.

"What a sec..." Fang started. "Wasn't the Master Emerald on Angel Island when I last saw it?"

Fang shook his head.

"Nah! Doesn't matter anyways. It's mine now. Once I sell this baby, I'll be rich!"

As he tried to get the Master Emerald out of it's position, he touched the Master Emerald, only to realize the Emerald was steaming hot.

"Yeowch! What's with this emerald, it's hotter than a cup of tea!" He said, shaking his hand.

"Was this thing an experiment of some sort?"

Fang looked around his surroundings. He saw tools on a desk, computers on the balcony above and a plane locked up in a garage.

"This must some workshop. Well, that's not the problem right now. How am I going to get this Master Emerald out of that pedestal?"

He looked around the workshop one last time before noticing a crane behind him.

"Ha! Using that crane, I'll be able to haul the Master Emerald out! But first, I should get something to haul it out with..."

Fang searched around for an object to place the Emerald on and as he was searching he looked out the window to see Sonic and Tails walking towards the workshop.

"Oh no! Don't tell me this is Sonic's workshop! I've gotta hurry!"

Fang hopped inside the cockpit of the crane and quickly hovered the crane over the Master Emerald. He then pushed a button to lower the crane and picked up the Emerald.

"Alright! Now all I gotta do is drive this crane out of the workshop!" Fang said.

As Fang put the crane in drive and flipped the switch, he accidentally pressed a button the dropped the Master Emerald onto the floor. As it reached impact on the floor, it shattered into pieces.

"Um... I didn't do it..." Fang calmly said.

The echo of the shattering could be heard outside the workshop, which alerted Sonic and Tails.

"Hey, didja hear that Tails?" Sonic asked. "It came from the workshop."

"A thief?" Tails added.

Sonic ran on ahead to the workshop as Tails followed behind.

Inside, Fang was in shock.

"Just when I come so close..." Fang said. "That Sonic comes and ruins my day!"

"WHO'S THERE?" Sonic yelled, as his echo could be heard coming from the outside hallway.

Fang quickly ran towards the Emerald pieces on the floor and attempted to pick them all up, but they were all still hot from the experiment Sonic and Tails conducted on it. Just then, all of the pieces floated in the air and all of them flew out the window.

"Great! Wha?" Fang said, as he saw Sonic's shadow approaching the room. Fang quickly climbed back out the window in the back.

"Oh well. Look's like I'm gonna have to search for those pieces if I want to sell them for some cash..." Fang said before running of into the city.

Inside, Sonic reached the room and looked around. He surveyed the area without knowing the Emerald was missing.

"Tails! It's okay. I don't think anyone is here..." Sonic stated, as he looked around some more.

"Good. If a thief was here, I'm sure he would've went straight for the Master Emerald." Tails said as he approached his desk to get the chip.

"C'mon Sonic. Let's get the chip in the Tornado, return the Master Emerald to Knuckles and infiltrate Eggman's base to find out his latest plan." Tails added.

"All of that sounds fine Tails, except one thing..." Sonic said.

"What?"

"The Master Emerald is missing!"

Tails looked at Sonic in shock as he knew he wasn't joking. Tails then quickly searched around the workshop to make sure he didn't misplace it. Then, Tails realized the noise earlier was the thief taking the Emerald.

"Sonic! Maybe it was a thief here, and he took the Master Emerald!" Tails explained.

"Nah! Because a piece of the Master Emerald is here." Sonic said, staring down at the Emerald piece.

Tails joined him and also stared down in shock.

"Sonic, do you know what this means?"

"Yeah..." Sonic answered.

"Knuckles is going to totally kill us!" Tails exclaimed.

"Well, actually I was thinking we could sell this Emerald piece on ebay, but yeah, that too." Sonic said.

"Sonic this is serious! Knuckles is going to be streamed! I knew we should've returned the Master Emerald right away!" Tails said.

"My bad..." Sonic said. "We should have..."

"Okay, let's calm down. Let's think about this for a sec. First off, we can't tell Knuckles about this. He'll kill us." Tails explained.

"Right." Sonic agreed.

"Second, we'll have to search for the Emerald pieces alone. If we somehow collect all the Emerald pieces tonight, we can..."

Sonic interrupted.

"Tails. I don't think we can find all the Emerald pieces in one night. It doesn't split in the area, it splits across the whole world." Sonic said.

"I know..." Tails said. "But what other choice do we have?"

Sonic thought for a second. Then, he nodded.

"Kay, you get the Tornado. We going to find those missing pieces!" Sonic said.

"Right!" Tails said, as he departed of towards the garage.

"Knuckles, forgive us..." Sonic said as he stared down at the Emerald.

---------------

Knuckles and Charmy had just got out of the train and had arrived in Station Square.

"Aww man! Out of cookies!" Charmy said, turning the bag upside down and shaking it to make sure.

"We are here." Knuckles said.

"Knuckles? That you?" came a voice.

Amy came running up to him.

"Amy?" Knuckles said. "That you?"

"'Course silly. Hi Charmy." Amy responded.

"Hey Amy." Charmy returned.

"What brings you two here?" Amy asked.

"Can we talk about it somewhere else?" Knuckles returned.

"Sure. How about my apartment? It's just around the corner. Follow me." Amy said.

As they walked out of the train station, Knuckles thought for a moment.

"Why are you out here this late at night?" Knuckles asked.

"Well... I do my late night shopping." Amy said.

Knuckles sighed as they approached the apartment.

Inside the apartment Knuckles and Amy sat down at a coffee table while Charmy was in Amy's kitchen, scarfing down brownies.

"So, that's it huh?" Amy said, nodding to Knuckles explanation.

"Yeah. Sonic and Tails stole it and now I'm hunting them down. Charmy says that they're in Eastopolis city. Is that true?" Knuckles asked.

"Yup. Tails is usually there, tinkering with his inventions and stuff. Though he's usually on the run with Sonic. You know Sonic, adventurous as always." Amy stated.

"Yeah, well I've got no other choice. That's the best place to look for now..." Knuckles said.

Knuckles got up and looked around. He saw that Amy's apartment walls were pink and a girly smell kept running through Knuckles' nose.

"Well, Amy. Love to stay and chat, but I can't waste any time. Charmy were leaving!"

"Okay." Charmy said with a mouthful of brownies.

"Wait! I have a quick favor Knuckles." Amy said, right before Knuckles left.

"What?" Knuckles asked.

"Take me with you!"

"WHAT?" Knuckles and Charmy yelled.

"It's been quite some time since I've seen that blue bundle of fun. I just can't live without him. I've got to express my love to him." Amy begged.

"I'm sure he already knows that Amy, and besides, the next time you see the guy might be your last time seeing him." Knuckles said.

"Please! You're bringing a child along, aren't you?" Amy said, looking towards Charmy.

Knuckles was about to say "no" until Amy looked at Knuckles with puppy dog eyes and blinked several times.

"Fine! As long as you don't act too girly!" Knuckles said.

"Yay!" Amy and Charmy yelled.

"The fastest way to Eastopolis is the tunnels. Let's go!" Amy added.

---------------

Sonic and Tails were flying through the air in the Tornado.

"Sonic you see any Emerald shards?" Tails asked. "They should be easy to see in the dark."

"Not yet buddy. We might need help for this one..." Sonic said.

"How? We can't get Knuckles, and he's the only one who can sense the Master Emerald shards." Tails added.

"True, but he's not the only treasure hunter in town." Sonic said.

"Sonic! You don't mean "her" do you? We don't even know where she is!" Tails said.

"We've got no choice. We're gonna have to look for her if we want to find the Master Emerald pieces. We've gotta look for Rouge!"

**That's the end of this Chapter folks. Stay tuned for Chapter 6.**


	7. Evil Reborn

**Author's Note:** Sorry about the huge delay folks. For those who don't know, that new spiffy Sonic game for the Playstaton 3 and X-Box 360 is just around the corner. Y'know what I'm talking about, right? Sonic the Hedgehog, of course! So, without further adieu, let's get Chapter 6 underway... Once again, thanx for your patience folks:)

**-Emerald Hunters-**

Chapter 6: Evil Reborn

Eggman and Gerald were walking down a dark shallow hallway located around the top floor of the base. Eggman kept staring down at his feet while walking, taking a glimpse or two at his grandfather, then back at his feet again. Thoughts were running through his head, such as to why his own grandfather keeps his silence when it comes to questions. Eggman needed answers and he needed them fast.

"Grandfather! It's time you told me what your purpose is for being here." Eggman started. "I know you are keeping secrets from me, and I want to find out what they are."

"Ivo..."

"That's Eggman, grandfather!" Eggman interrupted.

Gerald continued after Eggman's outburst. He realized that his grandson was very confused as to what was going on.

"...Ivo... I didn't want to tell you this but..." Gerald started.

"Yes, yes..." Eggman said, intrigued by his words.

"...Your mother wasn't very proud of the way you turned out... She wanted a handsome young man, not an old beat-up, egg-shaped, ..."

"...THAT TEARS IT! If you won't tell me what's going on here, I'm gonna force it out of you, and I'm not afraid to use my own robot's against one of my family members!" Eggman snapped, holding up a gun in front of his grandfather's face.

Gerald just looked at the gun, then at Eggman, then again at the gun.

"Ho ho ho ho ho!!! You were always the funny one, Ivo. Seriously? Would you really kill someone you know and love in order to get information you don't even need to know? It sounds quite dumb actually. Ho ho ho ho ho!"

Eggman started to step backwards and stare at Gerald with a horrified look.

"You! You're...you're not my grandfather... are you?" He said.

Gerald just smirked. Eggman readied his gun seconds away from pulling the trigger. All of a sudden, smoke started to appear around Gerald. Eggman coughed and stepped back until on the silhouette of his so-called grandfather remained. In the smoke, the silhouette started to shrink and break apart until nothing remained. Eggman gulped as the smoke started to clear. Sweat falling down his face, he listened carefully for any noise that wasn't ordinary and soon enough, he heard a menacing metallic laughter. As he started to run for the doorway, a blue blur flew past him to appear in front of the panicking doctor.

"It...it can't be!" He stuttered.

"Surprised?" Came a voice so shrill and mechanic, Eggman jumped. "I'm not, I've been waiting forever to extract my revenge!"

"But...Sonic destroyed you! You can't still be alive!"

"But I am very much alive."

"No... What do you want from me?"

"Nothing personal. I just needed information to plan my next attack on him..."

"Him? You don't mean..."

"Yes! HIM! I will finally get my revenge on Sonic the Hedgehog, for my name is..."

Eggman started running away from the metallic hedgehog.

"...Metal Sonic."

Eggman slammed open the double doors leading into the robot room. He activated all his security robots and set them to kill. After Eggman activated them all, he ran up to the control room, where Metal Sonic was waiting.

"How did you..."

"Geesh Eggman, you are certainly surprised over everything, aren't you?" Metal Sonic said.

Eggman quickly spoke in his micro-radio.

"Guards! The intruder is up here in the control deck. Scratch, Grounder, take all necessary objects and escape as far as possible. Decoe and Bocoe, follow them. I'll be behind. That's an order!"

"Aye aye!" Scratch responded on the radio.

Robots started to bust through the walls and ceiling and surrounded Metal Sonic.

"This is going to be fun..." Metal Sonic said with a smirk.

---------------

Sonic and Tails had stopped near a bank in the middle of the night in Eastopolis. They were on a sort of stakeout mission. They hid behind some bushes nearby and waited for something to happen.

"Why are we doin' this again?" Sonic asked.

"Becuase, Rouge loves jewels, right? So we sit here all night until she robs the place. Simple, huh?" Tails said.

"No." Sonic responded.

"Whaddua mean, 'No?'" Tails retorted.

"Tails..." Sonic began, "Rouge doesn't just rob any old bank. Sure, she's interested in jewels, but that doesn't mean she steals from just this bank."

"Well, I hesitated! How am I supposed to know what kind of bank Rouge loves to steal from, Huh? I mean come on! All banks are the same, so just steal from one bank, not the everyone's bank! Why, I suppose she just goes around cracking safe codes and security devices only for one stinkin' jewel! ONE STINKIN' JEWEL! And I'm not done yet! I..."

Sonic was just listening to Tails talk on and on until a piece of newspaper hit Sonic in the face. He took it off his face and started to read it. His eyes strolling left to right until he saw something that made his eyes bigger. He quickly got up and carried Tails over to the Tornado, who was still rapidly talking.

"Tails! TAILS! I've got a lead!" Sonic said, as he hopped into the tornado along with Tails.

"Huh? Oh, really? What?" Tails asked, snapping out of his talking spree.

"Read this..." Sonic said, handing Tails the newspaper article. Tails glanced at it and talked while he read.

"A interesting jewel is being put up for display at the Westopolis museum. The owner of the museum says that it had just fallen out of the sky out of nowhere. He also thinks this a piece of a very special emerald many want to get there hands on... You can't miss this big event, starting this evening at 10:00p.m."

Tails had broken his eyes away from the article. "Uh Oh!"

"Sound familiar?" Sonic said.

"Sonic! We have to hurry and get to that museum. That's a piece of the Master Emerald!" Tails explained.

"No duh! Plus, at a event this big, I'll eat donkey crap if Rouge doesn't show up!" Sonic stated.

"So you'll actually eat donkey waste if she doesn't. Wow, your brave, Sonic." Tails said, with a hint of sarcasm.

"Tails. Shut-up." Sonic said. "Anyways, not only will Rouge show up, but we'll fetch our first Master Emerald shard. Man! It's only been one night, and were already makin' progress."

Tails hopped in the cockpit as Sonic hoped up on the wing.

"Alright! Let's go!" Tails said.

Tails started up the Tornado hidden in some local woods and took off into the sky, setting off on their first mission.

---------------

Metal Sonic busted through one robot after another only soon to fire a laser from his eyes at a flammable container in the room and blew all the robots around into pieces. Out of nowhere a robot appeared right behind Metal Sonic and started to attack, but missed as the metallic hedgehog was gone with the wind. He appeared behind the robot and tore it's head off, then he threw it at a line of robots and quickly lit it on fire using his laser eyes and turned it into a fireball.

The fireball blew a hole through the whole line of robots and blew up the wall behind them, where a whole army of bots was waiting.

"Damn! How many robot's does this guy make? Is this really what he does in his spare time? If that's the case, he has no life..." Metal Sonic said, as he started to charge up energy.

The robots started to come in and surround Metal Sonic as he sat charging.

"Heh, heh, he... You foolish bucket of bolts army, you stand no chance against my..."

Metal Sonic then unleashed his Energy Beam which took out half the room and all of the robots.

"...POWER!" Metal Sonic yelled as he blew the base up.

Eggman looked from above the mountains nearby. He watched his whole entire base explode. When the dust around the mountains settled, nothing but ruins were left and as thunder and lightning flashed and sounded, Decoe, Bocoe, Scratch and Grounder were in the background, watching their creater's reaction.

"Looks like you're gonna have to build another base your excellence..." Grounder started.

"No! Do not disturb him. He's not in the mood!" Bocoe quickly said.

Eggman turned towards them.

"We have to get far away from here as possible. Once we have extra help, we'll take on this monster together." Eggman explained.

"Got it sir." Scratch responded.

Back in the ruins of Eggman's base, Metal Sonic arose from rubble.

"Yes, Eggman...Run! I've already gotten my information from you anyway. Now, I truly know the weaknesses of my counterpart, Sonic. I must thank him one day for showing me those videos and telling me those stories about your past encounters with him. I have already processed them into my mind."

Metal Sonic flew up into the air and blasted off into the clouds of stormy weather. The lightning and thunder soon cleared afterwards and Eggman, Scratch, Grounder, Decoe, and Bocoe journeyed in the opposite direction of their ruined Robotropolis.

Metal Sonic started to think up his plans in his head.

"_Hmm. Perhaps I may need the Chaos Emeralds for this one, and maybe even the Master Emerald."_

Metal Sonic flew off into the horizon.

---------------

Knuckles, Charmy and Amy walked down a path surrounded by a lush green forest. They had just gotten out of the tunnels that lead them into Eastopolis. Charmy started dropped the bag on the ground, and burped.

"Aww man. Out of brownies." Charmy said.

The three walked up a sign on the side of the street that read Eastopolis. Knuckles looked up a hill to see the top of some buildings in sight.

"We're here." Knuckles said. "Let's go!"

"We're coming Sonic!" Amy said, winking.

They continued up the path and into the starry horizon.

**And that's that people. Stay tuned for Chapter 7 and Happy Halloween to you all!**


	8. Bat Hunting p 1

**Authors Note: **This gonna be a short Chapter, but this will also be an introduction of 3 new characters for my story. Hope you enjoy!

**-Emerald Hunters-**

Chapter 7: Bat Hunting p.1

Sonic and Tails were flying through the air in the Tornado, heading towards Westopolis in search for Rouge. Sonic was on top of the plane looking at the cities below.

"YEAH! This is great! We might be able to pull this off, eh Tails?" Sonic yelled down to Tails, who was piloting the Tornado. Tails nodded.

"Yeah, but ya never know Sonic." Tails said.

"Look! There's Westopolis!" Sonic said, looking down at a huge city with glimmering lights and thousands of car lights moving below.

"We may have to land on the outskirts and walk to the museum. I don't think we want to catch the attention of Rouge right away." Tails mentioned.

"Right." Sonic agreed.

"Ha! Funny seeing you here, Sonic the Hedgehog!" A voice yelled out. The voice sounded as if it was being projected by a microphone.

"Wha?" Sonic said looking around. Sonic saw a huge flying ship that was way bigger than the Tornado fly up next to them.

"Remember me?" The voice said again. "I told you we'd meet again, Sonic the Hedgehog! Now, you'd better be ready to race!"

"Huh? Jet!" Sonic yelled out.

Jet, Wave, and Storm were standing on top of their ship. Jet was holding a microphone.

"Do ya have to use that mic?" Tails asked.

"Yes! I want everyone to know that I've come back to take you on!" Jet said, as it was snatched from his hand.

"Don't forget, I want my rematch too, shorty!" Wave said, recognizing Tails. Once again it was snatched.

"Hey! Where's that red guy, huh?" Storm said.

"Can we all race some other time? We're kinda busy as of now!" Sonic said, sweat dropping from his face.

"NO! You said you'd be ready when I got back!" Jet said, as he dropped the microphone and the three jumped towards the Tornado and landed on it with Sonic nearly losing his balance.

"So we race! Now get out your Extreme Gear!" Jet yelled.

"Guys! I can't pilot all of you! It's to much weight!" Tails yelled out to them as the Tornado fell from the air.

"YIKE!" All of them yelled as the Tornado landed right in the Westopolis river.

"Great! Now I'm all soaking wet!" Wave screamed.

"Looks like we walk from here." Tails said.

"Where are you two off to? Is what you're doing really more important than racing?" Jet asked.

"Really more important! We kinda made a mistake and borrowed something we didn't bother taking back. Now it's shattered in pieces and we're trying to get it back before the person that we borrowed it from finds out and tries to kill us. Basically, it's a wild goose chase." Sonic answered.

"I see. Well, if this'll get you to race us, we'll help you search for whatever it is your looking for. Um, what are you looking for?" Jet asked.

Tails pulled out a Master Emerald shard to show to them.

"This! This is a piece of the Master Emerald. It's like a Chaos Emerald, only way more powerful. The guardian of this Emerald can use it to cancel the power of the other Chaos Emeralds." Tails explained.

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa! Wait a sec! You mean to tell me you stole this from a guardian?" Wave asked.

"We didn't steal it, we tricked him into it." Sonic explained.

"And the guy we stole it from is very easily tricked. Y' know, Knuckles." Tails finished.

"Oh! That red echidna! I see." Jet nodded. "Okay! Leave it to us treasure hunters! We'll find those pieces for ya!"

"But before you do that, we're looking for another treasure hunter. Rouge the Bat. I'm sure me and Tails can find a way to convince her to help us." Sonic explained.

"Where is she?" Storm asked, whilst picking his nose.

"Over there, in that city." Tails pointed.

"I think your plane is safe here. Let's go now!" Jet said, as he, Wave and Storm got out their Extreme Gear and took off towards Westopolis. Sonic blew off towards the city and passed Jet, Wave, and Storm at his top speed and Tails were following close behind the others while turning his Tails into a propellor as the Tornado was left in the river.

----------

"My, my, my. How interesting, a gem that just fell from the sky. Hmm."

Rouge was hanging upside down in a local tree in Westopolis, reading the news article Sonic and Tails were reading earlier.

"Looks like it's time to add a little emerald to my collection." She said as she smirked and glided off towards the museum.

**And it looks like Rouge has fell for the news hook, line, and sinker, huh? Part two will be much longer. Will Sonic, Tails, Jet, Wave, and Storm find Rouge and get her to join the search for the missing pieces of the Master Emerald? And what about Knuckles' group of Amy and Charmy? Have they found out that Sonic and Tails are no longer at Eastopolis? Find out in the next Chapter. See ya till then. ;)**


End file.
